Questions on Self Support Requirement

[Liana]

Hello,

I am a US citizen and my kæreste is a Danish man. I am trying to get a Danish Green Card so that I can look for a job and live with him in Denmark. I have a Master's degree and am studying Danish.

We have talked about getting married and see that as a natural next step in our relationship at some point. I am looking to confirm if we are eligible for family reunification in Denmark at all as there are some special circumstances. While I think I will be able to get the Green Card, I would like to know what our alternatives are.

I reviewed the requirements posted on http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_t ... n/spouses/

On the self support requirement, will we face difficulty or be rejected because my Danish partner is on førtidspension? He also receives an apartment subsidy. We looked this up and do not think that these are part of the Active Social Policy Act (lov om aktiv socialpolitik) or the Integration Act (integrationsloven). He is only in his late 20s but there are special circumstances for why he receives this. He did take some welfare payments in the past, but has not received anything like that in over 3 years.

On the housing requirement, he rents an apartment which I believe is of appropriate size. We call it a one bedroom with loft here in the States but it has a living room with kitchen (in one large room), a separate bedroom, bathroom, and loft.

We can meet the collateral requirement and I have a decent amount in savings and plan to work once I get a visa that permits me to do so.

The other issue is that I was divorced back in 2000 in the US. I understand that one needs to provide a statement that the marriage cannot be appealed before being permitted to marry in Denmark. I will try to obtain this but am looking for a backup plan. Is there any potential problem on the Danish side if we return to the US to get married, just for a wedding ceremony, and then apply for family reunification in Denmark directly after? Would I still need to provide some statement about the validity of my divorce if we were already married in the US when we apply?

Any advice or thoughts on this situation would be greatly appreciated.

[fundiver199]

The content of the Self Support Requirement is, that your husband must not within the last 3 years have received kontanthjælp or revalidering. So it is only a problem, if he received kontanthjælp, while his application for førtidspension was processed, and this is less than 3 years ago.

If your marriage is valid in the US, it will be valid in Denmark also, since there is mutual recognition of marriages basically all over the world due to an international convention about this.

[Liana]

Thanks for your quick response! I really appreciate it.

[Liana]

Hello,

Thanks for the advice from my earlier post. I am pleased to report back that we are now engaged! I have a couple of questions, as I have a plan for how to move to Denmark and was wondering if anyone could see any potential problems and help answer some questions.

I am still planning to get a Green Card to move over to Denmark from the US. The reason for this is because then I could work right away after moving. I was previously rejected for not having enough points. I spoke to Danish Immigration a few months ago and they suggested that I try to pass the first level Danish exam to get some additional points. I am registered to take the test this winter and hope to pass.

Assuming that I pass, I will appeal the GC right away and would have the full 100 pts needed. The original application was processed fairly quickly so I am hoping the appeal would be fast too. I will be staying in Denmark in November and December in Denmark as a tourist/visitor from the US and to take the Danish exam. I will return to the US in January and await the appeal decision. I reviewed my visits with the Danish Consulate and confirmed that my next date of entry is in March and so plan to return to Denmark at least as a visitor. I am hoping that the GC will be settled by then.

My fiance and I decided that we will start planning the wedding after I go back in March. I am looking at a few dates. One idea is to get married in the spring, perhaps in late May. The other idea is to marry in autumn maybe in late September.

My questions are around how getting married would work in conjunction with the green card. I have asked questions of Immigration but wanted to double check. Here are some scenarios and questions.

1. If I get the Green Card before March and then move, is there any problem with getting married as a Green Card holder? From the research I have done, it seems ok to do this. I have always been clear with Immigration that I am really moving for relationship reasons.

2. If I get married as a Green Card holder, do I just stay a Green Card holder for the 3 years and then renew my visa under Familiesammenføring? Can one change the status part way through? When I spoke to Immigration they indicated that is it ok to renew after 3 years under any way that I would qualify and that it this sounded ok.

3. When renewing under familiesammenføring but having a green card prior to applying, is my ability to work disrupted?

4. If I do not have a Green Card before I move in March, is there a problem with getting married in May as a visitor from the US and then applying for familiesammenføring on top of waiting for the Green Card appeal to be final?

5. Would you instead recommend that I not go for the Green Card at all and just come over via familesammenføring? The problem there is that I really want to be able to work right away. I think we would qualify (see prior post for history). Also, I understand that one can stay in Danmark while it is pending. Would I be able to get a CPR number while it is pending in this scenario?

Thanks in advance for reading my post and for any advice.

[mh1]

1) Nope.

2) Your choice, you can do both.

3) Nope.

4) Nope.

5) You will not get a cpr.nr. until you have some sort of residence permit. Therefore, if you choose to come to DK and wait there you MUST make a travel-health-insurance which can be extended if it should prove to be necessary. It is up to you how long you think you can stand to wait without being able to work. Perhaps you can spend the waiting time studying (more) Danish, but you cannot get the official courses free. There are some free courses in some cities, though.

[Liana]

Thank you for your quick response! I really appreciate it.

[Liana]

Hello,

Thank you for all your help thus far. I have some follow up questions from my post on 27.09.2012.

Since I last wrote, I passed my Danish language exam (Prøve i Dansk 1) and have filed an appeal in late December to obtain a Danish Green Card. They said it has taken 10 months to review but that a new ministry is going to be responsible in 2013 and so it may go faster.

I am in the U.S awaiting the decision. I am planning to come to Denmark in mid March and stay 90 days under the tourist rules. I am hoping that they will be able to review my application and make a decision by mid June. Otherwise I would have to return to the US.

We are planning to get married in September. In case my GC appeal is still under review, I was thinking about applying for Danish family reunification after we are married. I spoke to someone at Danish Immigration Services and they said that since I have a Green Card appeal pending that I may not be permitted to remain in Denmark while the family reunification application is being considered. They said that if I did not have the Green Card appeal then I would definitely be allowed to wait in Denmark. Do you know if that is correct ? Is it possible to withdraw at GC appeal and then be able to apply for family reunification and stay? I don't really want to do that because I want to be able to work when I move to Denmark, but am just curious as to what my options are.

Also, if my GC appeal is not reviewed by mid June, would it be at all possible for me get permission to remain in Denmark to wait for it? I don't have a good reason other than that I want to be with my fiance, plan my wedding, and continue to learn Danish. I have personal savings and health insurance so would not be a burden.

Thanks again for all your help.

[fundiver199]

It is not possible to have more than one kind of residence permit under procession at the same time.

[Liana]

Thanks for your reply.

My overall plan is to get the green card (hopefully) then apply for family reunification about a year or more before the Green Card is expired. That way, if we get rejected on family reunification, I still have time to renew the Green Card, assuming I meet the work requirements.

Does that work?

[mh1]

Possibly, most likely - but it is always difficult to predict the future

[Liana]

Thanks. I know there are no guarantees. I am a planner by nature.

[Liana]

Hello,

Thanks for your helpful advice thus far.

As an update, I have obtained the Danish Green Card and I have started a full-time job at an international company in Denmark. I am getting married to my Danish fiance in a couple of months.

I wanted to confirm that I can apply for FS as a second track and have both the GC and FS at the same time and also renew them both for the next few years, until I can get permanent residency.

Main reasons for wanting FS are that 1) that is the real reason why I am in Denmark and 2) I heard that on work visas, one will only get 1 year of Danish classes and on FS one can get up to 5 years. I plan to live in Denmark for the long term.

Side note- I was thinking of becoming a member of ÆUG but the link seems broken. Is that right, or is it my computer?

[mh1]

The residence permit you have will not become invalid because you apply for one under different rules, so yes, you can have 2 or more valid permits.